Travel in Indonesia: Free online guide & bookings

Communications

Most post offices (kantor pos) open Mon–Thurs 8am–2pm, Fri 8–11am & Sat 8am–1pm, though in the larger cities the hours are much longer; aside from the usual services many now offer email and fax facilities. Indonesia's poste restante system is fairly efficient, but only in the cities; poste restante is officially held for a maximum of one month. Overseas letters to Western Europe and America take between seven and ten days to arrive.

In larger post offices, the parcels section is usually in a separate part of the building and sending one is expensive and time-consuming. The cheapest way of sending mail home is by surface (under 10kg only). Don't seal the parcel before staff at the post office have checked what's inside it; in the larger towns there's usually a parcel-wrapping service near the post office. A parcel weighing up to 1kg airmailed to Europe takes about ten days and costs around Rp100,000; a 2–3kg parcel costs Rp225,000 (by sea it will cost Rp120,000 and take three months).

There are two types of telephone office in Indonesia: the ubiquitous government-run Telkom offices (now more commonly called Yantel, which are open 24hr), and privately owned wartels (usually 7am–midnight), which tend to be slightly more expensive, but are often conveniently located. Both also offer fax services, though the wartels rarely have a collect-call service.

Public payphones are useful for local calls and take Rp100 and Rp500 coins. Put the coins in only after someone picks up the phone and starts speaking. Many payphones now take telephone cards only (kartu telefon), available in various denominations from 20 units (Rp2000) to 680 units (Rp68,000). Cards can be bought from most local corner stores. In the big cities there are also new kartu cip phones that take the new microchip cards. Long-distance domestic calls (panggilan inter-lokal) are charged according to a zone system, with different rates; it's cheaper between 9pm and 6am.

Rates for international calls are fixed, though the premium charged by the private wartels varies. All calls at weekends and on national holidays are discounted by 25 percent. IDD rates are as follows, per minute: Australia Rp8300 (plus 20 percent 9am–noon, minus 25 percent 10pm–6am); New Zealand, USA and Canada Rp8300 (plus 20 percent 9am–noon, minus 25 percent 11pm–7am); UK Rp9400 and Ireland Rp7150 (both plus 20 percent 2–5pm, minus 25 percent 3–11am). To call abroad from Indonesia, dial 001 or 008 + country code + area code (minus the first 0) + number. For international directory enquiries call 102; the international operator is 101. Some Telkom offices and airports also have home-country direct phones, from which you can call collect (reverse-charge calls), or settle up after the call; they cost more than IDD phones.

Internet access is becoming increasingly widespread in Indonesia, and there are now tourist-friendly internet offices and cybercafés in many towns and cities; prices vary widely from Rp3000 to Rp50,000 per hour. Email can make a good alternative to post office postes restantes – even if you're not on the internet at home.

Crime and safety
Foreign fatalities resulting from the suppression of independence movements in West Papua and Timor, and the urban violence which surrounded the political and religious upheavals of the last couple of years, all undermine the idea that Indonesia is a safe place to travel. However, it's also true that serious incidents involving Westerners are rare. Petty theft, however, is a fact of life, so don't flash around expensive jewellery or watches. Don't hesitate to check that doors and windows – including those in the bathroom – are secure before accepting accommodation; if the management seems offended by this, you probably don't want to stay there anyway. Some guesthouses and hotels have safe-deposit boxes.

If you're unlucky enough to get mugged, never resist and, if you disturb a thief, raise the alarm rather than try to take them on. Be especially aware of pickpockets on buses or bemos, who usually operate in pairs: one will distract you while another does the job. Afterwards, you'll need a police report for insurance purposes. In smaller villages where police are absent, ask for assistance from the headman. Try to take along someone to translate, though police will generally do their best to find an English speaker. You may also be charged "administration fees", the cost of which is open to sensitive negotiations. Have nothing to do with drugs in Indonesia. The penalties are tough, and you won't get any sympathy from consular officials. If arrested, ring your embassy immediately.

Emergency phone numbers
Police 110
Ambulance 118
Fire 113

Medical care and emergencies
If you have a minor ailment, head to a pharmacy (apotik), which can provide many medicines without prescription. Condoms (kondom) are available from pharmacists. Only in the main tourist areas will assistants speak English; in the village health posts, staff are generally ill-equipped to cope with serious illness. If you need an English-speaking doctor (doktor) or dentist (doktor gigi) seek advice at your hotel (some of the luxury ones have an in-house doctor) or at the local tourist office. You'll find a public hospital (rumah sakit) in major cities and towns, and in some places these are supplemented by private hospitals, many of which operate an accident and emergency department. If you have a serious accident or illness, you will need to be evacuated home or to Singapore, which has the best medical provision in Asia. It's, therefore, vital to arrange health insurance before you leave home.

Money and costs
The Indonesian currency is the rupiah (abbreviated to "Rp"). Notes come in denominations of Rp100, Rp500, Rp1000, Rp5000, Rp10,000, Rp20,000, Rp50,000 and Rp100,000; coins, mainly used for public telephones and bemos (minibuses), come in Rp25, Rp50, Rp100, Rp500 and Rp1000 denominations. Officially, rupiah are available outside of Indonesia, but the currency's volatile value means that very few banks carry it. The current exchange rate is Rp9500 to US$1 and Rp13,500 to £1.

There were severe price hikes for daily necessities after the rupiah devalued by 600 percent in the twelve months from August 1997 and, as wages haven't increased proportionately, hotels, restaurants and services aimed primarily at Indonesians have been slow to raise their rates for fear of pricing out customers. Strictly tourist businesses, however, have responded by charging for their goods and services in US dollars. Even where prices are displayed in US dollars, though, you're usually given the option of paying with cash, traveller's cheques, credit card or rupiah.

It's difficult to say exactly how much Indonesia costs on a daily basis. However, you'll keep all costs to a minimum if you concentrate on Java, Sumatra, Bali and Nusa Tenggara where it's possible to travel cheaply. In Kalimantan, Sulawesi and especially West Papua, flying or cruising between places is often the only option for travel, while the cost of importing goods makes everything more expensive. Taking all this into account, if you're happy to eat where the locals do, use public transport and stay in simple accommodation, you could manage on a daily budget of £7.50/US$11 per person. For around £15/US$22 a day (less if you share a room), you'll get hot water and air conditioning in your accommodation, bigger meals and a few beers.

You'll find banks capable of handling foreign exchange in provincial capitals and bigger cities throughout Indonesia, with privately run moneychangers, who sometimes offer better rates, in major tourist centres. You may be asked to supply a photocopy of your passport, or the receipt (or proof of purchase) that you get when you buy your traveller's cheques. Always count your money carefully, as unscrupulous dealers can rip you off, either by folding notes over to make it look as if you're getting twice as much, or by distracting you and then whipping away a few notes from your pile. Moneychangers in Kuta, Bali are notorious for this.

In less-travelled regions, provincial banks won't cash traveller's cheques, but will take US dollar notes. Over-the-counter cash advances on Visa can be used for obtaining the full international rate. Even more conveniently, most islands now have at least one ATM (major islands that still don't, include Sumba, and the Alor and Solor islands to the east of Flores). These ATMs take at least one from Visa, MasterCard, or Cirrus-Maestro.

Food and drink

Compared to other Southeast Asian cuisines, Indonesian meals lack variety. Coconut milk and aromatic spices at first add intriguing tastes to the meats, vegetables and fruits, but after a while everything starts to taste the same – spiced, fried and served with rice. Be particularly careful about food hygiene in rural Indonesia, avoiding poorly cooked fish, pork or beef, which can give you flukes or worms.

Rice (nasi) is the favoured staple across much of the country, an essential, three-times-a-day fuel. Noodles are also widely popular. The seafood is often superb, and chicken, goat and beef are the main meats in this predominantly Muslim country. Vegetarians can eat well in Indonesia, though restaurant selections can be limited to cap cay – fried mixed vegetables. There's also plenty of tofu and the popular tempe, a fermented soya-bean cake.

Indonesian food

The backbone of all Indonesian cooking, spices are ground and chopped together, then fried to form a paste, which is either used as the flavour-base for curries, or rubbed over ingredients prior to frying or grilling. Chillies always feature, along with terasi (also known as belacan), a fermented shrimp paste. Meals are often served with sambal, a blisteringly hot blend of chillies and spices

Light meals and snacks include various rice dishes such as nasi goreng, a plate of fried rice with shreds of meat and vegetables and topped with a fried egg, and nasi campur, boiled rice served with a small range of side dishes. Noodle equivalents are also commonly available, as are gado-gado, steamed vegetables dressed in a peanut sauce, and sate, small kebabs of meat or fish, barbecued over a fire and again served with spicy peanut sauce. Indonesian bread (roti) is made from sweetened dough, and usually accompanies a morning cup of coffee.

Sumatran Padang restaurants are found right across Indonesia, the typically fiery food pre-cooked – not the healthiest way to eat – and displayed cold on platters piled up in a pyramid shape inside a glass-fronted cabinet. There are no menus; you either select your composite meal by pointing, or wait for the staff to bring you a selection and pay just for what you consume. You may encounter boiled kangkung (water spinach); tempe; egg, vegetable, meat or seafood curry; fried whole fish; potato cakes; and fried cow's lung.

Transport

From Malaysia and Singapore

A variety of ferries and speedboats depart from Penang, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, to Medan and from Melaka in southern Malaysia to Dumai. You can also take ferries from Johor Bahru, in far southern Malaysia and Singapore to the Sumatran islands of Batam and Bintan; and from Port Klang, near Kuala Lumpur, to Tanjung Balai in Sumatra.

There are two entry points between East Malaysia and Kalimantan. You can catch a bus between the capital of Malaysian Sarawak at Kuching to Kalbar's capital, Pontianak; alternatively, you can cross from the East Malaysian state of Sabah by catching a two or three-hour ferry to Pulau Nunukan or Tarakan from Tawau, two days' bus ride southeast of Kota Kinabalu.

Information and maps

There's a range of tourist offices in Indonesia, including government-run organizations, such as Kanwil Depparpostel offices, and the province-oriented Dinas Pariwisata (Diparda). Though they can lack hard information, staff often speak some English, and may advise about local transport options or arrange guides. Many private tour operators are also excellent, if sometimes partisan, sources of information. In remote locations, you can try asking the local police.

Good all-round maps include GeoCentre's 1:2,000,000 series and the Nelles Indonesia series. In the same league is Periplus' growing range of user-friendly city and provincial maps.

Entry requirements and visa extension

Citizens of Britain, Ireland, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA do not need a visa to enter Indonesia if intending to stay for less than sixty days, and if entering and exiting via a designated gateway. There are currently around forty of these air and sea gateways into Indonesia, at which you can get a free, non-extendable sixty-day "short stay" visa on arrival; "sixty days" includes the date of entry. You'll be fined US$20 for every day you overstay your visa, up to a maximum of fourteen days. After that you'll get blacklisted from Indonesia for two years. The best way to get yourself a new sixty-day visa is to leave the country for a few hours and then come straight back in through a designated port of entry (Singapore is the most popular for this).

There have been reports that this system is about to change, and that there'll soon be a charge for the visa, and that the length of stay will be cut from sixty to thirty days. These reports also say that visas may be extendable for another thirty days at one of the immigration offices in Indonesia. How much tourists will have to pay to get one of these new visas (and in what currency), and how much it will cost for an extension, has yet to be announced; as such, it would be worth contacting your local embassy for details.

If you want to stay more than two months, or are entering via a non-designated gateway, then you must get a visa from an Indonesian consulate before travelling. Tourist visas are initially valid for four weeks, and cost US$35. They can be extended for up to six months at immigration offices (kantor immigrasi) in Indonesia, but this is never easy.